"Coal Miner's Daughter" Loretta Lynn Age Discrepancy

One of my favorite singers of all time, Loretta Lynn, is currently battling claims that she may have fudged the facts a little in her autobiography, "Coal Miner's Daughter." In her book, she tells a story about being married at age 13 and a mother of four by age 18. The movie by the same name starring Sissy Spacek, followed the facts of the book closely.

It was recently discovered by an AP reporter that Lynn's birth date is actually three years earlier than she's claimed all these years. If this is true, she is 80 years old as of this writing, not 77.
It would have been illegal for a girl under the age of 14 to marry in Kentucky in 1948, said R. Eric Henninger of the Kentucky State Law Library. At that time, he said, "lots of folks didn't have any sort of official proof of age."
OK...my question is: Why does this matter? In the grand scheme of things, does the fact that she may or may not have lied about her age really make any difference in her life story? Does it make it any less interesting?

I say no. So she was married at 15 and not 13. Big deal. Either way, it's still incredibly young, and the story just as intense and inspiring.

You can read the entire story here.

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